


Thankless

by Melodious329



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-10
Updated: 2014-02-10
Packaged: 2018-01-11 19:56:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1177270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melodious329/pseuds/Melodious329
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve keeps being unconsciously sexy.  It's driving Thor wild and Tony insane.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thankless

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a kink meme prompt about Steve being unconsciously sexy with a can of whipped cream, but I can't find the fill and it turned into Steve/Thor anyway.

Living with the Avengers in his newly remodeled Tower is a lot less like a frat party than Tony would have thought.  Mostly, the others aren’t even there at all.  Bruce is gone to third world countries, still skittish about SHIELD knowing his whereabouts constantly.  And Clint and Natasha are always gone on shield assignments.  Those two aren’t much for singing kumbaya and toasting marshmallows around the fire anyway though. 

Steve lives full time in the tower, much to Tony’s delight.  Truly, it was just sad when the guy lived in some flea-ridden studio in Brooklyn.  But Captain Unsocial keeps mostly to himself, especially if Pepper is around.  Not that Tony is at all trying to spend time with the younger man.  They found some common ground during the Chitauri invasion, but they aren’t exactly friends.  Tony doesn’t even know what to say to the guy that won’t result in one of two faces.  Either Steve will clench his jaw in his _‘I’m trying not to say something that I’ll regret later’_ face or he’ll purse his lips in his _‘I’m trying not to show my emotions because they’re all sad’_ face.  Tony doesn’t really like either of those faces. 

It also means that Tony is the only one there for Captain Controlling to work off his mothering instincts.  Steve doesn’t interrupt Tony in his workroom, but he does usually cooks at least one meal a day that he’s always trying to get Tony to eat.  Other than that, though it’s quiet in the tower.  Boring.  Pepper’s always gone.  Did he go on so many business trips when he was in charge?  Pepper would undoubtedly tell him that’s why she should be in charge.      

But that all changes when Thor comes back from Asgard and moves into the Tower.  Thor takes up space, instead of haunting the hallways like some overly patriotic people.  It’s impossible to ignore the Viking god, to ignore his loud voice always asking questions, wanting to experience everything.  For a week, Tony orders in all different types of food just to watch Thor’s reaction.  Even Captain Dreary isn’t immune to the prince’s gravitational pull. 

All of a sudden, Tony will turn a corner already hearing Thor’s booming laugh and see one of those huge arms slung around Steve’s shoulders.  Tony can’t remember anyone touching the Capsicle.  It’s actually weird to see, like it might melt the guy, like hugging a statue of a national icon.  At first, Steve looks uncomfortable at the contact, but slowly he starts to smile back, a real smile like on those old movie reels not that weird, tight smile that he’s been doing the last few months around Tony. 

But then things take a turn for the worst.  Tony will have to look into the mating practices of old Vikings because he did not see this coming.  He’s heading into the kitchen for coffee, stumbling out of his lab only then realizing that it’s actually nighttime.  What he finds is surreal though.    

Thor is passing Steve a can of Reddi-whip, both of them seeming confused by it as Steve peers down the barrel.  Tony momentarily gets distracted thinking about the last time that he used whipped cream.  It’s too bad that Pepper isn’t here to re-enact it.  Thor looks on with interest as Steve shakes the can, finger getting closer to the spout. 

“Here, lemme…” Tony starts just as the can sprays in Steve’s face. 

Thor bursts out laughing immediately, and Steve’s ears turn red.  It shouldn’t look that adorable, Tony thinks, for Captain Virginity to have white cream all over his face, running down over full lips...He’s so stunned that he doesn’t stop it in time.  Thor’s suddenly right in front of Steve, swiping a finger through the mess on the super soldier’s face and then sucking his finger in his own mouth. 

“Sweet,” Thor remarks with the look of a shark staring at a seal.  Steve blushes, red cheeks visible underneath the Reddi-whip, but it doesn’t stop Thor’s hand reaching around the back of Steve’s neck, pulling the other man in like he’s going to lick Steve’s cheek. 

“Whoa,” Tony cries, interrupting them.  He wastes no time grabbing Steve’s bicep and pulling the man away from Thor’s greedy clutches.  “You’ve never seen whipped cream?” he asks, pushing the Captain towards the sink.

“I’ve seen whipped cream,” Steve answers grumpily before turning on the tap and rinsing his face.  He grabs a towel before finishing.  “Just not in a can,” he mumbles, with a glance back at Thor.   

“Oh, well, it’s too fattening for you anyway.  Wouldn’t want to ruin your girlish figure, Cap,” Tony says mockingly.  “Thor, can I speak to you for a minute?”

It’s not actually a question as Tony crowds the big guy out of the kitchen, Steve looking after them suspiciously.  Tony doesn’t stop until the living room, far enough away that even super hearing can’t hear. 

“Look, Thor,” Tony starts, and then he hesitates not knowing what to say.  “I know that Cap sometimes does things,” he says with a wave of his hand to encompass what he means to say.  “Things that make him look sexy, what with that body and those lips and that wide-eyed innocent look…and you might be tempted to make a move on him, but Cap’s not like that.”

“Like that?” Thor repeats confused. 

“He’s not sexy,” Tony snaps.  “He’s pure, untouched by man or woman…he’s a _virgin_ ,” Tony hisses.  “He’s not doing it on purpose.  Cap comes from a time that was really homophobic.”

“I do not understand.  It does not surprise me that he is still virginal given his reactions,” Thor’s lips creep upwards into a small smile. 

“No, no, no,” Tony snaps.  “You can’t touch him.  Cap is not okay with men wanting to have sex with him.” 

Hell, Steve blushed and stammered when Pepper tried to be nice to him, Tony thinks.  As funny as it would be to watch Steve have a forties homophobic freak-out over Thor coming onto him, it would ruin the team.  Tony has to stop this before it goes too far. 

“Steve would not be receptive to my sexual advances?” Thor clarifies, looking suddenly downcast. 

“Right,” Tony agrees.  “So keep your big mitts to yourself and off the capsicle,” he says getting up and going back to the kitchen. 

He starts fixing a pot of coffee, watching Thor as he sits back down at the table and trying not to notice how both blonde men look a lot less happy now than when he first interrupted them.  But it’s for their own good, he knows. 

“You didn’t even have any ice cream?” Tony asks, looking around the table.  “What were you going to do with the whipped cream?”

“Ice cream?” Thor asks at the same time as Steve says, “We were just curious.”

Tony stops, realizing that he’s been remiss in Thor’s food education.  He’s reaching in the freezer when he says, “Cap, you didn’t show him ice cream?”

There’s no answer and when Tony emerges with the carton, he sees Steve has that face on again, the sad one.  He frowns and asks again, “You didn’t have ice cream?  Even in the service?”

“Not a lot of extra money back then.  And there was rationing,” Steve says with that clenched jaw again. 

Tony puts two bowls of ice cream on the table topped with chocolate syrup and whipped cream.  He can tell Steve’s being too defensive, like there’s some other reason he hasn’t had ice cream.  He probably gave his share to some orphaned kid, Tony thinks. 

“What’s rationing?” Thor asks. 

Tony snorts and grabs his mug of coffee, leaving Steve to explain.  He’s got new inventions to make. 

But it doesn’t stop there.  Suddenly Steve seems to be on a mission to drive Thor and Tony both insane by flaunting his _everything_ in their faces.  Only Steve could be this naïve. 

Soon after Thor and Tony have their talk, Clint and Natasha and Bruce all come back from their latest excursion.  It’s the first time that the Avengers have been all together since their first alien invasion and they decide to have a night in together, order a few pizzas, drink some beers, shoot the shit.  Ok, ok, well, maybe it was Tony’s idea.  He doesn’t like drinking alone and what’s the point of them living together if not to have a little fun, or better yet, for Tony to have fun getting the others drunk.  What better way to get to know each other? 

Of course, Steve can’t get drunk, which Tony thinks is actually the saddest thing that he’s ever heard because if anyone needs to get blitzed it’s Captain Uptight.  Steve keeps them all supplied with glasses of water, but surprisingly, he doesn’t try to stop them.  He laughs along with all of them, until they get really sloppy and Natasha makes them watch _Pulp Fiction_.  It’s her favorite or something.   

Steve slinks away then.  Tony doesn’t blame him because the movie really only makes sense if you’re a little sloppy.  Instead, he starts playing the old pinball machine.  It’s a classic, the Addams Family one released in 1992.  Tony showed it to him once, when Cap first moved in, but Tony has never seen the soldier play it.  He assumed it too frivolous for their commander. 

But now Steve’s very into playing it, putting his whole body into it.  He’s bent over the machine a little, which pushes out his ass.  A fantastic ass, even Tony has to admit even if it’s attached to a prudish overbearing douche.  Steve is swaying from side to side, hips moving with the ball, his back muscles bunching under the shirt that’s molded to him.  It’s mesmerizing…

Suddenly, Thor is blocking his view.  The big lug stands directly behind Steve, Tony can’t see exactly how close but he can see that it startles the super soldier into standing upright.  Thor seems not to notice the reaction as his huge hands cover Steve’s on the sides of the machine. 

Tony almost spills his drink as he jumps up from his seat.  Thor is asking Steve how to play, hands slamming on the flipper buttons when Tony bumps into them hard, playing it off like a drunken accident. 

“Whoa,” Tony says, righting himself and pretending to only just notice what the other two men are doing.  “Thor, aren’t you supposed to wait your turn?”

Tony glares at the Asgardian behind Steve’s back, but Thor only looks miffed by his interruption.  Their staring contest is disrupted when Steve turns his face around to smile at them. 

“No, it’s no problem,” he says, sliding out of the way so Thor can belly up to the game.  “I’ll teach you.”

Tony stands there a few more minutes, letting Thor know that he’s still watching.  Steve laughs as he points to where the ball should go, trying to right the machine when Thor rocks it sideways trying to cheat.  They look like they’re having fun which is what Tony wants, but he can’t help feeling surprised at how well the two click. 

For the next week, it seems the message has finally been received.  And he realizes that these two men have found a real friendship in the midst of being shoved together in a tower.  Now they’re almost always found together.  It seems every time that Tony leaves his lab, he can hear them laughing together in the kitchen or getting off the elevator together or watching movies on the couch together.

And more than doing things together, Tony realizes that they listened to each other.  Really listened.  The rest of them were often too busy to listen to Thor’s long-winded ridiculous tales of some far-off world.  And none of them really wanted to listen to Steve’s recollections of the good ol’ days.  It was too depressing to think about all that the supersoldier had lost. 

Tony walks in on them sitting on the couch, facing each other with their backs leaning against the couch’s arms.  The tv is showing the blue screen of a movie that’s finished, but the two men are more interested in each other.  Thor is engrossed in the story Steve is telling.  It takes Tony a minute to understand that the story isn’t about the war or the Howling Commandoes at all.  It’s a story from before the serum entirely.

“Bucky had to drag me outside.  It was a good day until that asthma attack,” Steve is saying, and Tony can hear the smile in his voice. 

“What’s asthma?” Thor asks. 

Tony listens, resting against the wall just out of sight.  The question illustrates why he’s surprised that Cap would tell a story from before the serum.  He just assumed that Steve is ashamed of how he was before, of his weaknesses. 

“Asthma is when it’s hard to breathe, your throat and lungs constrict until there’s not enough air getting in,” Steve explains without concealing anything. 

“And you had these attacks a lot?” Thor asks. 

Tony sneaks back out to the sound of Steve’s quiet laughter.  He’s seen so many pictures and movies and posters of Steve as he is now, strong and capable.  It’s like Steve’s life started after the serum, but maybe that isn’t true at all.  Maybe for all their differences, it’s nice for Steve to talk to someone who doesn’t already know _Captain America_. 

Unfortunately, their easy camaraderie is almost ruined again.  After their successful night, all thanks to Tony, Steve is all into team building and alternative forms to exercise or some awful yuppy idea.  Bruce is already gone again, but the supersoldier makes the five of them go to the park to play frisbee.  Tony refuses to participate without his suit which Steve won’t allow because it will draw too much attention so he just puts on his sunglasses and watches. 

Of course, they draw quite a crowd once Natasha and Steve start doing flips and Hawkeye is running up a tree trunk and Thor, well, Thor is just bellowing in excitement with every throw.  Tony has to put a stop to it before the crowd of onlookers grows any bigger.  But they’re all still happy as they head back home, all of them insisting on walking.  They’re acting like they’ve just won a battle or something, excited and childish but without the overwhelming exhaustion. 

Hawkeye is the one that stops for bottle of water at a hotdog cart.  It’s just coincidence that Tony sees that they have those Mexican Coca-Colas, the ones in glass bottles with real sugar or something.  He instinctively buys one for Cap. 

“Didn’t they have these even back in your day?” Tony asks as he hands over the ice cold bottle. 

Steve laughs a little, still smiling as he twists off the cap.  “They did,” he says.  “Thanks.” 

Full lips wrap themselves around that lucky bottle and then Steve’s tipping his head back, exposing the long line of his throat as he gulps down the cold beverage.  The setting sun glints off Steve’s long eyelashes as he tips his face back down and then his pink tongue emerges, dexterous as it cleans any hint of sweetness from his full bottom lip.  And then to make sure, Steve brings up his muscular sweaty forearm to wipe his mouth, his bicep bunching visibly below the sleeve of his tshirt. 

“Want some?” Steve offers Thor.

The blonde prince steps forward automatically, predatory smile on his face and his hand deliberately covering Steve’s on the bottle.    

But Tony’s arm is suddenly across Thor’s chest, pushing the Viking god back.  “We’ll get something better back at the Tower, big guy,” he says, and then keeps talking because this has gone one far too long.  “Did it still have actual cocaine in it back then?” he asks. 

Steve’s face loses the smile and becomes automatically suspicious like it does most of the time when Tony’s talking. 

“If it did have cocaine in it, though,” Tony continues, conspiratorially.  “Be a happy surprise, right?  For the soldiers, men or whatever in your platoon, even if it doesn’t affect you.  No wonder everyone looks so happy in those old reels.  I bet they spent any spare second blitzed out of their heads.  Not that I blame them with what went on in that war.”

Steve’s perfect blue eyes seem utterly hollow and his hand drops to his side, fingers just barely holding onto the bottle.  “They were good men, in a horrible situation.  What they…we saw…”

“I’m sure they were,” Tony agrees easily.  “I’m just saying a little extra _help_ coping wouldn’t have gone amiss.”

“Cocaine went out of favor in the 1890s,” Hawkeye ventures as he walks past Tony.    

Tony’s eyes follow the archer before he shrugs and begins to follow.  Slowly, they all fall into line as they head home, though Tony keeps Thor near him.  He can’t help glancing back at the soldier though, as Natasha falls into step beside Cap.  Tony can just hear the high notes of her voice, but those broad shoulders simply shrug her off.

Thor’s voice brings him back.  “The Captain is still very upset by the deaths of his friends,” he says quietly.  “He has told me many tales of their great deeds, and their exploits off the battlefield.  I do not believe he wants them mentioned so casually.”

Tony nods.  He figured that out himself, but shit, what are they supposed to do?  Never mention anything from Cap’s past?  He’s trying to help, to stop Steve from losing the friend he has in Thor. 

Steve takes it a little harder than Tony expected, though.  The supersoldier gets depressed again, starts keeping to himself.  He’s barely seen even at meal times and doesn’t make any food for the others.  Thor, however, is always around, glaring at Tony until he decides discretion is the better part of valour and takes to spending most of his time in his workshop.

It’s a week later that he’s exiting in his lab, for once heading to the kitchen for coffee bright and early in the morning.  He happens to be in the right place at the right time and runs into Steve getting off the elevator from his morning run through the city.  One of those damnable morning people, the supersoldier goes for a run every morning and for some reason has never invited Thor or anyone else on the daily outing. 

Tony blinks and then looks past the blonde at the opposite wall and its floor-to-ceiling windows.  He had no idea that it was raining, but Steve is soaked.  Raising one arm, Steve curls his bicep as he runs a hand through his wet hair, droplets of water sliding down over a prominent cheekbone and down the side of his neck where it disappears into his tight white shirt.  The fabric is sticking to his skin, showing particularly perky nipples, and his grey sweatpants leave nothing to the imagination.  Or, well, the slight outline of what looks to be an impressive dick gives his imagination plenty.    

Steve is shaking his head like a dog when Tony notices that Thor has come into the room and seems to be cataloguing the show in just as much detail.  Without much thought, Tony jerks into action, pulling the blanket off the back of the nearby couch. 

“Holy nipples, Batman,” Tony jokes as goes on his tiptoes to pull the blanket over Cap’s shoulders.  “It’s starting to look like a wet tshirt contest in here.  You might want to cover up.”

Steve looks embarrassed and he pulls the blanket tighter over his chest.  “Sorry,” he murmurs, not meeting the eyes of either man.  “I’ll go change.”

Nobody should make Steve look ashamed of that body that he’s been gifted with and he wants to kick himself for being the one to do it.  Tony keeps his own eyes away from Thor as he sprints from the room just as quickly.  Jesus, why does Steve have to be so damn sensitive? 

By the time, Tony comes back up for dinner, he’s about to wash his hands of the whole thing.  He’s spent most of his time today worrying about Thor and Steve and just melting down failed experiments.  At this point, Steve and Thor are barely on speaking terms anyway and somehow Tony feels like the bad guy when he’s just trying to help.  Maybe it’d be better if he just let things take their course. 

Besides, he won’t always be around to stop things, he thinks as he heads for the kitchen.  But when he hears Steve’s laughter followed by Thor’s deep rumble, he stops just outside the door.  Peering around the corner, he’s just in time to see Thor leaning into the other man, huge hands already around Steve’s waist as he lays a kiss on Steve’s lips.  For a moment, both Tony and Steve are too stunned to move.  But even as Tony is taking a step forward to intervene, Steve is responding, lifting his face to kiss back against with equal fervor, arms going around the taller man’s neck. 

Tony’s brain stutters and threatens to short circuit as he realizes Thor’s hands have drifted downward to Steve’s ass, his huge hands squeezing _Captain_ _Purity_ ’s perfectly pert ass.  Thor lifts Steve underneath the thighs and slams him back into the refrigerator so hard that the thing creaks.  It’s industrial strength for god’s sake. 

Thor pulls back then far enough to ask, “You are not frightened?”

Steve’s hand cups Thor’s bearded cheek as he shakes his head no.  That’s all the answer that Thor needs before he dives back in, attacking Steve’s neck like he’s trying to devour the capsicle. 

“God, Thor,” Steve moans, head leaned back against the metal refrigerator.  Tony’s ears go red and he starts to pull back, thinking that this isn’t something he should be witnessing.  But Steve’s next words stop him from leaving.  “I thought you’d never…I thought you didn’t want me…”

Tony watches intently as Thor’s movements slow and then he pulls back again.  His hand is gentle on Steve’s cheek as he coaxes Steve’s chin down so their blue eyes can meet.    

“Who could not want you?” Thor asks softly, thumb rubbing along the edge of Steve’s now puffy lips.  “Who could not want to touch you and know you and fight beside you and wake up beside you?”

Tony takes that as his cue to exit stage left, relieved that this isn’t just about sex for these men.  He feels a little ridiculous now, realizing all of his efforts were pointless, but he supposes it all worked out.  Now that he thinks about it, the two blondes make a rather perfect couple. 

There’s a loud thump and a muffled rumble of laughter that gets Tony’s feet moving away.  He thinks about telling Jarvis to turn off the cameras, but then he thinks that it’ll be a present for Pepper.  


End file.
